Louis Metcalf

Trumpeter, Musical Artist

1905 – 1981

21

Who was Louis Metcalf?

Louis Metcalf was a jazz cornetist and trumpeter. He played for a short time with Duke Ellington for which he is best remembered.

Metcalf was born in Webster Groves, Missouri. As a youth he first trained on the drums but switched over to cornet permanently. As a teenager in St. Louis, Missouri he played with Charlie Creath.

Metcalf moved to New York City in 1923 and participated in the fertile jazz scene there, playing with such legends as Willie "The Lion" Smith, Jelly Roll Morton, Benny Carter and King Oliver. In 1926 Duke Ellington hired Metcalf to play in his seminal orchestra, where his mellow tone contrasted with Bubber Miley's. In the 1930s Metcalf led his own bands and joined Fletcher Henderson's.

In 1946 Metcalf moved to Montreal and formed the International Band, the first to play the nascent bebop style in Canada. Under his leadership the Café Saint-Michel was the hub of the jazz scene in Montreal for a few years, with local musicians such as the young Oscar Peterson and visiting Americans such as Art Pepper, Fats Navarro and Sonny Rollins sitting in with the band.

A drug bust prompted Metcalf to return to New York City in 1951.

We need you!

Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web!

Born
Feb 28, 1905
Webster Groves
Nationality
  • United States of America
Profession
Died
Oct 27, 1981
Queens

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

Citation

Use the citation below to add to a bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"Louis Metcalf." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/louis_metcalf>.

Discuss this Louis Metcalf biography with the community:

0 Comments

    Browse Biographies.net